Split Pea Soup - Pressure Cooker

This thick pea soup is so easy to make in the Instant Pot or other pressure cooker. Refrigerate or freeze leftovers for more quick, hearty meals.

8 cups water
1 onion, chopped (about 2 cups)
1 cup of chopped mushrooms
2 carrots, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 bay leaves
2 Tablespoons dried parsley flakes
1 teaspoon basil
1 teaspoon celery seed
1 teaspoon paprika
1 pound dried split peas
1/4 cup uncooked barley or rice

optional:
salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon salt-free seasoning
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder

Prepare and measure the ingredients before beginning to cook.

Dry saute' onion and mushrooms for 3 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons of water, the carrots and celery and cook two more minutes. Add 2 more tablespoons water along with the garlic, bay leaves, parsley, basil, celery seed, paprika and cook one more minute. Stir in remaining water, the split peas and barley. Cook under pressure for 20 minutes. Allow steam to release naturally. Taste the soup, then add any or all of the optional seasonings.

Curried Split Pea Soup

This is a very thick soup, almost a stew. Serve it over brown rice, baked potato or in a bowl by itself.

split pea soup - green and yellow peas

1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
2 to 3 cloves garlic, minced
1 to 2 Tablespoons fresh ginger, minced
8 cups vegetable stock
2 teaspoons curry powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon cardamom
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cups dried split peas (green or yellow or both)

optional: 1 tablespoon lemon juice
               1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

In a large pot, saute' onion and carrot for 5 to 10 minutes in 1/4 cup of vegetable stock. Add 2 more tablespoons veg stock along with the garlic, ginger and dried spices and cook one minute more. Stir in remaining stock and split peas. Bring to boil. reduce heat, cover and cook for one hour or until peas are tender.

If desired, stir in lemon juice and or parsley just before serving.

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Pressure cooker instructions: Cook under high pressure for 20 minutes allowing steam to release naturally.

More split pea recipes here.

Minestrone Soup

Three kinds of beans, brown rice and potatoes make this minestrone soup extra hearty.

Ingredients

8 cups vegetable stock
1 large onion, chopped (about 2 cups)
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon oregano
1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
2 medium potatoes, cubed
1/2 uncooked brown rice
3 cans beans (about 4 1/2 cups)  black, chickpea, kidney
optional: 4 cups kale, chopped

Instructions

In large pot, saute onion, celery, carrots and bell pepper in a small amount of water or vegetable stock for 5 minutes. Stir in garlic and oregano and saute one minute longer. Add  remaining water or stock along with the potatoes, tomatoes and rice. Bring to boil, lower heat and simmer 30 minutes.

Drain and rinse the beans and add to the soup.  Simmer 15 more minutes or until the rice is tender. If using kale, add during the last 5 minutes of cooking.

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Note:  Based on a recipe from Forks Over Knives - The Cookbook which also calls for 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast and 1 cup chopped basil that I leave out and use a chopped bell pepper instead. FOK also suggests 6 cups of cannellini beans, but you can substitute with whatever beans you have on hand.

Split Pea Soup - two ways

Here are two recipes for split pea soup, one with white potatoes and the other with sweet potatoes.

Split Pea Soup with White Potatoes

8 cups vegetable stock
1 onion, chopped
2 celery stalks, sliced
2 carrots, chopped
1 teaspoon celery seed
1 teaspoon basil
2 tablespoons parsley flakes
1/2 teaspoon salt-free seasoning
2 bay leaves
2 cups dried split peas
1/4 c barley
2 potatoes, diced

In a large pot, saute onions in 1/4 cup water or vegetable stock for 5 minutes. Add celery and carrots and saute 5 more minutes, adding more liquid if necessary. Add garlic, celery seed, basil, parsley and salt-free seasoning and cook one minute longer.

Put the remaining water or vegetable stock into the pot along with the bay leaves, peas, barley and potatoes. Bring to boil, reduce heat, cover and cook over low heat for 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until peas are tender.

 or

Place all ingredients in a pressure cooker and cook at high pressure for 20 minutes. Allow pressure to release naturally.

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Split Pea Soup with Sweet Potatoes - from Forks Over Knives Cookbook

l large onion, diced
1 medium carrot, diced
1 celery stalk, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 bay leaf
2 teaspoons minced rosemary
2 teaspoons thyme leaves
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 large sweet potato, peeled and diced
1 1/2 cups split peas
6 cups vegetable stock
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Place the onion, carrot and celery in a large saucepan and saute over medium heat for 10 minutes, or until the onion is translucent. Add water 1 to 2 tablespoons at a time to keep the vegetables from sticking to the pan. Add the garlic, bay leaf, rosemary, thyme, paprika, sweet potato, split peas, and vegetable stock and bring the pot to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and cook until the peas are tender, about 50 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Make the soup even more colorful and nutritious by adding fresh spinach during the last two minutes of cooking.

Split pea soup with spinach

And here's are recipe for Curried Split Pea Soup.

Vegetable Stock

Many plant-based soup and stew recipes call for vegetable stock. Stock is also a flavorful substitute for water in many vegetable, bean and rice dishes. And, stock can be used instead of oil when sauteing vegetables. Ready-made vegetable stock from the grocery store is convenient but may have too much oil and sodium for regular use. Luckily, it's easy to get in the habit of making your own vegetable stock.

Label a gallon size freezer bag with "vegetable stock" and put the bag in an easy to access place in the freezer. When chopping veggies for other recipes, put some of the trimmings in the freezer bag for stock. Also during the week, save in the freezer bag the fresh vegetables that you might not be able to use in time, cutting them up into chunks first. When making stock, choose suitable vegetable pieces from the freezer bag to go into the pot along with fresh onion, celery and carrots.

Ingredients

8 cups water
1 large onion (about 1 pound) quartered including skins for darker stock
1 or 2 cloves of garlic, unpeeled
2 to 4 stalks celery cut into chunks
2 to 3 carrots, cut into chunks
1/3 parsnip, diced (freeze remaining diced parsnip  for future stock)
1/3 turnip, peeled and diced (freeze rest of diced turnip for future stock)
2 bay leaves
1 to 3 stalks fresh parsley or 1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
1 teaspoon dried thyme and/or oregano
Up to 8 cups other assorted vegetable pieces from freezer*

*Keep a plastic bag in the freezer to store vegetable scraps and pieces for stock:

asparagus stems, leek leaves, mushroom stems

garlic, onions, potatoes including skins for darker stock

celery, fennel, corn, zucchini, winter squash

carrots, parsnips, turnips (remove bitter turnip peels before freezing)

peeled apples, pears or yams for sweeter stock

tomatoes or lemon slice for a slightly acidic flavor

bell pepper stems, veins and seeds (small amounts)

Do not use for stock: cabbage, broccoli, brussels sprouts, eggplant and leafy greens.

Instructions

Boil the water in a large pot, add all ingredients.  Lower heat and simmer partially covered, until vegetables are very soft, about 1 to 2 hours.

Pressure cooker instructions:  Boil water, add vegetables and seasonings, cover and bring to high pressure. Lower heat and cook under pressure for 10 minutes.  Allow steam to release naturally or a do quick release.

Pour stock liquid through a strainer or colander into a large bowl or pan.  When the stock has cooled, pour into storage jars or containers. Keep in refrigerator up to 4 days or freeze up to 3 months.

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Note:  Use water that has been filtered to remove chlorine or make sure to boil the water first before adding vegetables.

A good time to make stock is right before cooking a soup or other recipe which calls for a lot of stock.  That way the stock is already hot, conserving the energy that would have been needed to refrigerate and then reheat the liquid.

The cooked veggies from the stock can be added to the compost pile.